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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5

INTRODUCTION

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Helping you realize your possibility and supporting you to complete with your self-doubt is Kuṇḍalinī Awakening. Constantly turning many impossibilities into possibilities by playing that within human laws, rules and regulations is the job of an Incarnation. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, who is the possibility of all Incarnations, teaches us how to reach our true state. This is what the word samādhi means—to go back to our true nature.

We will never get an answer or solve a problem if we start thinking about which would be more beneficial. Before we evaluate the benefits of something, we should be clear about the scale we want to use to measure the benefits. What is beneficial for one person may be completely useless for another.

Portrait

Karma or Sannyāsa, What is my path? Again and again, all of us ask ourselves this question. The mind is in dilemma! The mind asks for a single instruction! Our mind will be alive as long as we are caught between any two extremes. The moment we come to any single conclusion we will be liberated. We will be ignorant as long as we are moving from one extreme to the other. Don't say 'Ignorance is bliss.' If ignorance is bliss why are so many people suffering on this planet? Ignorance is not bliss. Innocence is bliss.

To overcome this isolation, this incompletion we need to realize that no man is an island. We are all connected at the spiritual level.

Innocence means we
will not carry a scale
with which
we are continuously
measuring our life.
Ignorance
means we will have a
scale but we will not
be able to
fulfill our life
according to that
scale.

Here, Arjuna is in a dilemma as to which of the two is more beneficial for him. If we look into life as a utility, as some means to a benefit, then we are creating our own hell. If we reduce life to this, we will be in hell.

LIFE ITSELF IS A BENEFIT

Illustration

If we constantly try to see which of two things is more beneficial, it means we have a pure business mind. We can't do business with life. At some point we need to relax from the business mind. I always tell people, 'For at least half an hour per day, do some enriching which will not get dollars for you— some painting, some writing.'

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam and Krishna playing flute

DO SOMETHING ENRICHING JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ENRICHING, NOT FOR ANY PURPOSE

Enrich just for the sake of enriching. You will see that during that half hour, you will fall into your very being; which is the space of completion!

You can also enrich at some place of worship by cleaning it without expecting anything in return. Engage yourself in any form of selfless enriching activity. Serve food to people. Even while volunteering, we do it so that we can tell others about it and get applauded for it. So now at least for 30 minutes, authentically enrich with responsibility, without the cognition of getting yourself any benefit.

Portrait

The question concerning Karma and
Sannyāsa—responsibility and
renunciation— has been asked from
time immemorial, and each time it
has been answered. Yet this question
remains.

Somebody asked me, ‘Why is the
Gītā still relevant today?’ I said,
‘Because we never learned it.’
Although Gītā was uttered at least
5,000 years ago it is still relevant
today. Why? It is simply because
man has not listened and he has not
learnt his lesson yet! History repeats
itself. Man is not even aware of what
he is going after. He thinks he wants
something and runs after it. But by
the time he gets his hands on it, he
wants something else. So there is a
constant restlessness, powerlessness
within. This puts man in constant
incompletion, dissatisfaction and
depression. Listen! By merely
flooding completion into this
depression you can get out of it.

Portrait of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

Do Self-completion, Svapūrṇatva

Everyday at least for forty-two minutes, consciously decide to do the self-completion process, svapūrṇatva kriya. Decide consciously to be complete: 'Let me sit and face my powerlessness and complete with my patterns. Let me restore my space of completion today.' Tell yourself, 'I will allow the cognition of completion to enter into my consciousness this week. I will solve all my problems only with this complete cognition. I create the space of completion.

Surrender To Experience Karma-Sannyāsa As One

Let us deeply analyze these paths of Karma and Sannyāsa. Karma is normally out of greed and desires. Sannyāsa is always invariably out of fear, bhaya. There is a fear of life. When you are not ready to take the risk, you renounce everything. In the entire world, only three types of human beings exist: One who has surrendered to greed, one who has surrendered to fear and the one who has surrendered to the supreme intelligence, divine consciousness.

Illustration of Paramashiva/Deity

Let all our feelings, let all our mental thoughts, let all our physical deeds be directed towards gratitude to the Divine.

Sri Krishna

Don’t work out of fear or greed, because no matter how much we achieve out of greed, we will not be fulfilled. It is like pouring ghee (clarified butter) into the fire. Can we quench fire by pouring ghee into it? Never!

Never work out of greed because whatever we achieve is going to be taken away at the time of death. Never become silent and inactive out of fear because there is really nothing to lose. Whether we are afraid or not, everything is going to be taken away at the time of death. So why be afraid? In either case, why not be blissful?

Portrait illustration of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

GOALS:

To help the children understand
what Kṛṣṇa answers to the old
question concerning Karma and
Sannyāsa — responsibility and
renunciation.

ASSESSMENTS

  1. Why do we need a scale to measure?
  1. What happens when we come to any single conclusion?
  1. Why can't we do business with life?
  1. Can we do enriching without a purpose?
  1. What are ways we can enrich others? Is ignorance bliss? Is innocence bliss?
  1. Why is the Gītā still relevant today?
  1. What happens when ghee (clarified butter) is poured into the fire?
Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam
Art of the Day illustration

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

CAPTURE THE 2 EXTREMES

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Paper
  1. Pencil (or) Sketch pen

PROCEDURE:

Write or draw matching pairs of extremes. For example, hot and cold, near and far, lazy and busy

INFERENCE:

Our mind will be alive as long as we are caught between any two extremes.

Illustration of Paramashivam

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

Guru portrait

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

UNDERSTANDING GREED

INFERENCE:

When we are acting from greed, no matter how much we achieve, we will not be fulfilled. It is like pouring ghee (clarified butter) into the fire.

Materials Needed:

TV or laptop for children to watch a video

Procedure:

Show a video of a homa where ghee is added to the fire and the fire responds. Talk about What catches fire easily and what does not catch fire easily, and to be careful around fire That when you are greedy and want more, then even when you get something it is not enough

Homa fire illustration
Illustration of a deity figure

WORKSHOP
OF
THE DAY

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Help the children to hold Vaakyartha Sadhas on the paths of Karma and Sannyāsa. Karma is normally out of greed and desires. Sannyāsa is always invariably out of fear, bhaya.

Children illustration

CONCLUSION:

We can’t do business with life. Life itself is a benefit.

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

- BHAGAVAD GITA -

BOOK V, VOLUME II

Experience Your True Nature!

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Illustration of SPH Nithyananda Paramashivam
Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

5.5

यत्साङ्ख्यैः प्राप्यते स्थानं तद्योगैरपि गम्यते ।
एकं साङ्ख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स पश्यति
॥ ५-५ ॥

yat sāṅkhyaiḥ prāpyate
sthānaṁ tad yogairapi gamyate
ekaṁ sāṅkhyaṁ ca yogaṁ ca
yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati

He who knows, knows that the state
reached by renunciation (sankhya) and
action (karma) are one and the same.
State reached by renunciation can also
be achieved by action,

POWERFUL COGNITION

Sometimes you are an optimist and sometimes you are a pessimist. Both can lead to the same goal if the inner space is pure and complete.

संन्यासस्तु महाबाहो दुःखमाप्तुमयोगतः ।
योगयुक्तो मुनिर्ब्रह्म नचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥
॥ ५-६ ॥

sannyāsastu mahābāho
duḥkhamāptumayogataḥ yogayukto
munirbrahma na cireṇādhigacchati

Renunciation without devotional service
afflicts one with misery, Oh mighty-
armed one. The wise person engaged in
devotional service attains the Supreme
without delay.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

When we are complete and ecstatic, flowing spontaneously in tune with the wonderful symphony of Existence, we are true brahmacāris.

Portrait

योगयुक्तो विशुद्धात्मा विजितात्मा जितेन्द्रियः ।
सर्वभूतात्मभूतात्मा कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यते
॥ ५-७ ॥

yogayukto viśuddhātmā
vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ sarva-
bhūtātma-bhūtātmā
kurvannapi na lipyate

The person engaged in devoted service,
beyond concepts pure and impure, self-
controlled and who has conquered the
senses is compassionate and loves
everyone, although engaged in work,
he is never entangled.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Have the courage to live life with intelligence, with consciousness and completion, with spontaneity. Just this small shift in your space can do wonders for you; every moment will then be a celebration!

नैव किञ्चितकरोमीति युत्को मन्येत तत्त्ववित् ।
तत्त्ववित् पश्यञ्शृण्वन्स्पृशञ्जिघ्रन्नश्नन्गच्छन्स्वपञ् श्वसन्
॥५-८॥

naiva kiñcitkaromīti yukto manyeta
tattvavit paśyan śṛṇvan sprśañ jighrann
aśnan gacchan svapañ śvasan

One who knows the truth, though engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, dreaming, and breathing, always knows within himself that he never does anything.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

When we are so involved in the action, when we are completely relaxed, we are overflowing with compassion and love, and we just do out of the blissful energy in us

Portrait

5.9

प्रलपन्विसृजन्गृह्णन्नुन्मिषन्निमिषन्नपि ।
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्त इति धारयन् ॥५-९॥

pralapan visṛjan gṛhṇann
unmiṣannimiṣannapi
indriyāṇīndriyārtheṣu vartanta
iti dhārayan

'I never do anything at all.' While talking, letting go, receiving, opening, closing, he considers that the senses are engaged with their sense objects.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Understand that the senses, body and mind are not us. We are something much beyond these.

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

INTRODUCTION

Who is an optimist and who is a pessimist? An optimist is a man who created the airplane. A pessimist is a man who created the seat-belt. In life you always play both the roles. Sometimes you are an optimist and sometimes you are a pessimist. Here, both can lead to the same goal if the inner space is pure and complete. Please listen: Whenever we move our body while feeling a particular emotion, that emotion gets settled inside our system. That emotion will become part of us and get created again and again in our system. Jiḍḍu Krṣṇamurti, an Enlightened Master from India, made a wonderful statement about emotions. He says, ‘If you can, try to remain centered, silent, without moving your body when a particular emotion rises in you, without co-operating with it. Within eleven times, or I can say within eleven emotional upsets, if you have managed to be this way, you will be liberated from that emotion.’

Portrait of Paramashiva

With integrity and authenticity, eleven times is too much. When that emotion rises in you, don't cooperate. Let your body not go after that emotion. Don't be taken away by that emotion. Just decide, 'I am not going to be taken away by this emotion. I am completing with it.' I tell you, within three or four times, you will be liberated from that emotion because you will learn the technique of completion.

Drop Greed and Fear, Live Power and Joy

When you come down to this planet, you bring enough energy to live all your desires or to achieve whatever you want to achieve in this life; to create your reality as you want. You have already brought enough fuel. You don't need fuel from fear or greed.

Work only for your desires. Don't waste your life working for others' desires. Decide clearly, 'For the next ten days, I will work only out of my power, my joy and bliss. I will do everything out of my completion.' I can assure you, it will transform your life.

When you start practicing this, for the first few days you will feel a little unsettled because a new inner space is created. Say 'No' to any desire or any fear that comes up. Initially, you will feel some emptiness, a vacuum, but don't worry. In a few days you will beautifully settle with the new space. Don't worry when you fail a few times. Starting this way is much better than staying in fear of failure. So start! At least you will know the technique. I tell you with integrity, it will transform your whole life. It will give you such great strength and courage that invariably you will be liberated.

Statue of Paramashiva / Nithyananda

Remove the tremendous

stress and load from your

inner space. Decide, ‘For

ten days, I will do all my

actions out of deep bliss,

out of a settled mood of

powerfulness and joy.’

Sri Krishna playing flute

In Saṃskṛit, ‘Śiva’ means causeless auspiciousness, reasonless energy. It is possible to live with that reasonless, unmotivated energy. Only two things are needed for that. The first thing is trust that you have that energy. The next thing is starting to live it. Only these two things are needed to reach the Divine Consciousness. When we start working with the causeless auspicious energy, we become Śiva. Otherwise, we are Śava (dead body).

Deity / Paramashiva representation

When we use the word ‘renounce’ the way we understand it, we exclude something. Exclusion can never be the solution. When we say ‘I should give up or avoid something’, we exclude some creation of Existence. When we try to renounce the world, we are renouncing the creation of Existence. We are trying to prove that we are more intelligent than Existence.

Just sit down for five minutes and be aware of how you perceive situations. With completion and awareness, look at everything you think and do, and you can understand what I mean. When we come to an understanding of our own self and are able to live as a witness to everything that goes on around us, unaffected by situations and people around us, we become a realized soul, living enlightenment. If we do things fuelled by fear and greed, we become hypocrites.

Krishna Deity

EXPERIENCE YOUR TRUE NATURE

In the Mahābhārat war, Kṛṣṇa drives Arjuna's chariot. The horses represent the senses held beautifully in control by the divine charioteer. He drives the being represented by the warrior, in the body represented by the chariot towards victory, towards bliss.

When the individual consciousness surrenders control to the Divine, the Divine controls the body-mind-spirit and steers one towards one's true nature, bliss.

We have forgotten what it is to respond with intelligence. No situation can be exactly the same as before. How can it be? Can a river flow in exactly the same way at two different points? The very water would have changed from the time it flows from one point to the other. Life is like a river. It is continuously changing.

Existence is energy. It can never repeat itself. Every moment is unique.

It is just like when we are in a dream, we don't realize it is a dream. We think everything that is happening is reality. The moment we wake up from the dream we realize in a flash that it was just a dream. The way we are living life now is exactly the same. We are living life in the dream of the future and the past. And we think that the dream is reality.

Illustration

The reality is actually in the
present, which is the space of
completion. When we realize
this, we simply wake up to
the true reality from the
dream of illusion. Then, we
understand that the senses,
body and mind are not us.
We are something much
beyond these. With this
awareness we become
complete and blissful.

Illustration of a spiritual figure seated

GOALS:

For the children to understand
they do not need fear or greed
to live their life. To understand
that we should live from
completion and awareness,
unaffected by situations and
people around us.

ASSESSMENTS

  1. Give an example of the differences between an optimist and a pessimist.
  1. How does an emotion get recorded with our body?
  1. What does Jiḍḍu Kṛṣṇamurti say we should do to be liberated from an emotion?
  1. What does Swamiji say we should do to be liberated from an emotion?
  1. When you come down to this planet, what do we bring with us?
  1. What is a technique to remove tremendous stress and load from your inner space?
  1. What does ‘Śiva’ mean in Saṃskṛt?
  1. What are the 2 things to live with that reasonless, unmotivated energy?
  1. What does the word ‘renounce’ mean?
  1. What does Kṛṣṇa driving Arjuna’s chariot represent?
  1. What is reality actually and how do we wake up
Illustration of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam
Art of the Day

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

GO BEYOND YOUR EMOTIONS

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Paper
  1. Pencil (or) Sketch pen (or) colouring pens

PROCEDURE:

Draw and decorate a chart with 10 boxes. Any emotion that arises in the children they should observe if they have remained silent & centered. They can tick the box with that emotion in their paper. Discuss with the children about how they can use this technique for themselves.

INFERENCE:

You can liberate yourself from an emotion

Illustration

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

SENSES ARE NOT US!

Materials Needed:

1. Three bowls of water each at a different temperature ➢ In one bowl have the water very cold, with plenty of ice cubes ➢ In one bowl have the water comfortably hot ➢ In the final bowl have the temperature roughly midway between the hot and cold bowls, for example, at room temperature. If there are many children you may need more bowls. Keep the hot water hot and the cold water cold.

Procedure: Place the hot and cold bowls next to one another and the mid-temperature bowl separately. Children each get a turn to do these step.

Step 1: At the same time have one hand in the hot water and one hand in the cold water for about 10 seconds or so.

Step 2: Then without bringing his hands together, the child moves to the mid-temperature bowl and puts both hands into this bowl.

Illustration of hands and water bowls

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

SENSES ARE NOT US!

Activity illustration

INFERENCE:

We understand that the senses can easily be influenced. They are not us.

Ask The Children:

• How did their hands feel when they put them into the mid-temperature bowl. Even though the hands are in the same bowl of water, do their hands feel the same?

Portrait of a deity or guru

WORKSHOP
OF
THE DAY

Portrait of Paramashiva/Nithyananda

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Hold Vaakyartha Sadhas with the children on dreaming and waking from a dream, then waking up to the true reality from the dream of illusion.

[Figure: Sleeping in a bed on clouds]

CONCLUSION:

It is possible to live with ‘Śiva’ energy, with causeless auspiciousness, reasonless, unmotivated energy.

Photograph of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

- BHAGAVAD GITA -

BOOK V, VOLUME III

Experience
Your True
Nature!

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Illustration
Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam / Shiva illustration

5.10

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।
लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा
॥ ५-१० ॥

brahmaṇy ādhāya karmāṇi
saṅgaṁ tyaktvā karoti yaḥ
lipyate na sa pāpena padma-
patram ivāmbhasā

He, who acts without attachment, giving up and surrendering to the eternal consciousness, He is never affected by sin, in the same way that the lotus leaf is not affected by water.

POWERFUL COGNITION

The lotus flower grows in a dirty pond yet the flower is so beautifully above the water. Similarly, when you are neck-deep in the activities of the world and yet unaffected by what goes on, you have reached the goal of renunciation.

कायेन मनसा बुद्ध्या केवलैरिन्द्रियैरपि ।
योगिनः कर्म कुर्वन्ति सङ्गं त्यक्त्वात्मशुद्धये
॥ ५-११ ॥

kāyena manasā buddhyā kevalair
indriyairapi yoginaḥ karma kurvanti
saṅgaṁ tyaktvātmaśuddhaye

The yogis, giving up attachment, act
with the body, mind, intelligence, even
with the senses for the purpose self-
purification.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

Realized souls are so centered in themselves that the outer world incidents happening do not affect their core in any way.

Portrait of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

युक्तः कर्मफलं त्यक्त्वा शान्तिमाप्नोति नैष्ठिकीम् ।
अयुक्तः कामकारेण फले सक्तो निबध्यते
॥ ५-१२ ॥
yuktaḥ karmaphalaṁ tyaktvā
śāntimāpnoti naiṣṭhikīm
ayuktaḥ kāma-kāreṇa phale
sakto nibadhyate

One who is engaged in devotion, gives up attachment to outcome of one's actions and is centered, is at peace. One who is not engaged in devotion, attached to the outcome of one's action becomes entangled.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Surrender to the flow of life with the true understanding that we are being taken care of.

5.13

सर्वकर्माणि मनसा संन्यस्यास्ते सुखं वशी ।
नवद्वारे पुरे देही नैव कुर्वन्न कारयन्
॥५-१३॥

sarvakarmāṇi manasā sannyasyāste
sukhaṁ vaśī navadvāre pure dehī naiva
kurvanna kārayan

One who is controlled, giving up all the activities of the mind, surely remains in happiness in the city of nine gates (body), neither doing anything nor causing anything to be done.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

Be so completely involved in something that we become the very action itself.

Portrait illustration of Paramashivam

INTRODUCTION

Time and again Kṛṣṇa talks about detachment. This is the whole essence of the Gītā. This detachment is renunciation. Renunciation of attachment is true renunciation. You can give up all material possessions and move into a forest or an ashram, but if the mind still hankers for those possessions, renunciation has not happened.

One can still be very much in the material world, busy with wheeling and dealing, and yet be totally detached about the outcome.

The basic truth behind creating this space of centeredness and completion is really this: Existence is a loving Mother caring for us every moment, providing all that we need. When this understanding happens, we surrender to Existence. The wave drops into the ocean, blissfully aware that it is a part of the ocean. It no longer feels it is a separate entity trying to fight Existence, thinking that the ocean, the Whole, is its enemy

Sri Krishna figure with feather

WITNESS AND BE COMPLETE

Again and again, Kṛṣṇa is repeating a single point in various ways: action without attachment. He emphasizes that life happens only when we live as a witness to everything that happens, when we do not identify and attach with external incidents. We just have to watch what is happening in and around us without letting what happens outside affect our inner space.

Of course, the way in which we live automatically creates an effect, a transformation in others as well. We attract incidents that fall in tune with our desires and thoughts. When we are blissful inside, whatever happens outside will also be blissful. Even the same situation will be seen in a completely different way when we witness it with completion. Automatically, no emotion can sway us because now we are just witnessing, we no longer have any vested interest or incompletion in the situation. Our state is in no way affected by what others say or do. Then, we are Masters unto ourselves.

Kṛṣṇa gives us a technique to realize who we are. By giving up attachment to the sense objects, by dropping all false identifications with the body, senses and mind, we can live life with intelligence and this leads us to self-purification, self-completion.

Once a man went to Ramaṇa Maharṣi, and said, 'Bhagavān, I want peace!' Ramaṇa replied, 'From your own statement, just remove the word 'I,' remove the word 'want' and what remains is peace!'

Portrait of Paramahamsa Nithyananda
Krishna playing flute

All our want for peace is all a want. When we start to want peace, we create desires in us. That desire drives us to do various things for getting peace and we once again start to worry about the results of those actions. These worries take us away from peace and then again we want peace. So this becomes a vicious circle. When we drop the idea of wanting peace, when we can just be and let Existence take care, peace automatically happens. So, absence of want is the criterion to be peaceful.

An illustration of young Paramashivam

Suppose a child is playing with some small toy and you bring him a new big toy. If you take away the small toy from its hands, what will the child do? It will start yelling and crying. Even if you explain you have a much better, bigger toy, will it listen? No! Just give it the new toy and suddenly, it will forget the old one and start enjoying the new one. In the same way, Existence also tries to give us a big toy. Just imagine the kind of toy that Existence has given us—the whole of Itself! Enjoy it to the fullest. Celebrate it and express your gratitude!

Just live life in a simple way. Be complete every moment, enjoying the splendor of nature. Enjoy every thing that Existence has created. They will show us what it is to enjoy life without a reason

THE CITY OF NINE GATES

In these verses, Kṛṣṇa refers to the body, which has nine gates to the external world: the two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, mouth and the two organs of evacuation.

Here, Kṛṣṇa does not refer to not doing anything out of laziness and indulgence. Here, the mind has been stilled. It has stopped all activity but the body moves according to the will of the divine. We are in the midst of intense activity and yet are not doing anything.

Kṛṣṇa is talking of being so completely involved in something that we become the very action itself. It is not the action that gives us the joy but the conscious experience of the bliss within us through the action that actually gives us happiness and bliss.

Illustration
Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

When we realize through
experience or understanding
that the bliss in life is
completely within us, we will
get over our wrong cognition
that external pleasures are
what give us joy. We will
relax into the loving arms of
Existence and just flow with
it beautifully. Let the
Universe take care and you
carry on with your work!

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

GOALS:

To help the children understand action without attachment. That the conscious experience of the bliss within us through the action is what actually gives us happiness and bliss.

ASSESSMENTS

  1. What is true renunciation?
  1. What does Existence provide for us?
  1. Are we separate to Existence?
  1. When we are blissful inside, what happens on our outside?
  1. How can we achieve that no emotion can sway us ?
  1. When we look at a situation with completion and without completion, will we see the same situation?
  1. What technique does Kṛṣṇa give us to realize who we are?
  1. What are the ‘nine gates’ of our body?
  1. Who does Kṛṣṇa say should be lazy, the mind or the body?
  1. How does Kṛṣṇa say we should do actions?
Pencil and Paramashiva illustration
Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam
Art of the Day illustration

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

MAKE A TASSEL

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Cardboard cut into squares, the approximate size of the tassel
  1. Wool or yarn
  1. Scissors

PROCEDURE:

  1. Wrap the yarn around the cardboard 20 times or more (diagram on the left)
  1. At one end of the cardboard, thread some extra yarn through all the wrapped yarn and make a tight knot (diagram on the right, string being tied at the top)
  1. At the opposite end of the cardboard, cut the yarn (diagram on the right, scissors cutting at the bottom). Remove the cardboard
  1. A little below your first knot, tie a second pierce of yarn around all the threads to form the tassel shape
diagram

ART OF THE DAY:

MAKE A TASSEL

INFERENCE:

We can live as a witness to everything that happens - the loose ends of the tassel move freely like our actions we are witnessing

Illustration of tassels
Paramashiva animation

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

SENSES ARE NOT US!

INFERENCE:

Experience the bliss within us through an action without attachment

Materials Needed:

Small Ball

Procedure:

Each pair of children gets a ball to throw to their partner. A child only is successful in their throw if their partner is able to catch their throw. So the children need to take care to throw in a way that is helpful for their partner to catch.

Illustration of children throwing a ball
Portrait of Paramashiva

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Hold Vaakyartha Sadhas with the children on how to be "in the midst of intense activity and yet are not doing anything." What is the mind doing ? What is the body doing ?

Children doing yoga/exercise
Children playing with a dog

CONCLUSION:

Review the important understandings about action without attachment.

Sri Krishna playing flute
  • BHAGAVAD GITA - BOOK V, VOLUME IV

Cleansing
Ignorance
With
Knowledge

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Portrait of Paramashiva

5.14

न कर्तृत्वं न कर्माणि लोकस्य सृजति प्रभुः ।
न कर्मफलसंयोगं स्वभावस्तु प्रवर्तते ॥ ५-१४ ॥
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi
lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ na
karmaphalasaṁyogaṁ
svabhāvas tu pravartate

The master does not create activities nor makes people do nor connects with the outcome of the actions. All this is enacted by the material nature.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Everything that exists has always existed in some form or the other. It will continue to exist in some form or the other.

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभुः ।
अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तवः
॥ ५-१५ ॥

nādatte kasyacitpāpaṁ na caiva
sukṛtaṁ vibhuḥ ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ
tena muhyanti jantavaḥ

The Lord, surely, neither accepts anyone's sins nor good deeds. Living beings are confused by the ignorance that covers the knowledge.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

The mirror in which God sees Himself is man. Can the reflection be a separate entity from what it is reflecting? No!

Paramashiva

5.16

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।
तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम्
॥५-१६॥

jñānena tu tadajñānaṁ yeṣāṁ
nāśitamātmanaḥ
teṣāmādityavajjñānaṁ
prakāśayati tatparam

Whose ignorance is destroyed by the
knowledge, their knowledge, like the
rising sun, throws light on the supreme
consciousness.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Consciously decide that you will face every moment with deep completion, with deep ecstasy. The very decision will transform your life. Not only will you feel total and complete, you will radiate the bliss to others as well.

तद्बुद्धयस्तदात्मानस्तन्निष्ठास्तत्परायणाः ।
गच्छन्त्यपुनरावृत्तिं ज्ञाननिर्धूतकल्मषाः
॥ ५-१७ ॥

tadbuddhayas tad-ātmānas tan-niṣṭhās
tat parāyaṇāḥ gacchanty apunar-āvṛttiṁ
jñāna-nirdhūta-kalmaṣāḥ

One whose intelligence, mind, faith are in the Supreme and one who has surrendered to the Supreme, his misunderstandings are cleansed through knowledge and he goes towards liberation.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

The light of knowledge dispels the ignorance and we realize the state in which we have always been.

Photograph of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

INTRODUCTION

Kṛṣṇa gives a very deep understanding here. He says, ‘I do not create activities or make people do or connect with the fruits of the actions. All this is done by the material nature of humans.’

Kṛṣṇa is talking about the creation of the Universe itself here, not just about individuals. Understand, nothing in this Universe can be created or destroyed. Everything that exists has always existed in some form or the other. It will continue to exist in some form or the other.

Science also says the same thing that matter and energy are interconvertible and energy can never be destroyed. The beauty of the Vedas is that they say what science is now understanding

Portrait of Kṛṣṇa

The End or The Beginning?

People ask me, 'Who created this Univers?

The Universe itself is the creator, the created and the creation. If the creator and the creation were different, it means that the Creator is more intelligent than the creation. But the creation and the Creator are one and the same; they are both divine.

The game of life is all about man trying to realize the Divine in him and the Divine trying to express itself through man.

What Kṛṣṇa teaches here is actually a sūtra, a technique. Understand, when you are disturbed or angered by anything, the disturbance cannot disappear suddenly because it is a physiological happening. Your hormones have been released into your system; the body has been poisoned. But when you remain in the space of completion as a witness, even though the anger cannot go away immediately, there is the awareness in you that will dissipate the effect of the anger that remains in the periphery. The center, the core is untouched. You are now aware of these two points, the core and the periphery as two distinct identities co-existing.

This one glimpse will enrich you and become the strong support for you. The next time you see that you are being swayed by incompletions, you will remember this and such awareness will make you conscious and complete. This is what is meant by the term ‘being centered in completion.’ You are no longer a slave to your emotions, or to others.

Illustration of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam
Sri Krishna

The light of knowledge dispels the ignorance and we realize the state in which we have always been. We cannot remove the darkness directly. Ignorance also can be removed by just shining the light of knowledge on it! Just like the rising sun removes the darkness of the night, the light of knowledge dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam / Krishna depiction

Surrender Leads to Liberation

Kṛṣṇa gives us another technique to
liberate ourselves. He says surrender
leads to liberation, and happens
when one's intelligence is focused
on Him.

All we need is the faith, the courage
of authenticity to allow the supreme
intelligence to guide us, to surrender
our mind that oscillates between the
extremes. The knowledge removes
the ignorance.

In times of extreme self-doubt,
doubt your ego. Never doubt the
Master. The Master is the only truth
you can cling to when all else gives
way. The Master is the only one who
can guide you when everything
seems to be confusing.

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

SURRENDER CAN
HAPPEN AT DIFFERENT
LEVELS. UNDERSTAND
THAT THE MASTER
LIVES iN ALL THREE
ENERGIES_THE BODY,
HiS TEACHINGS AND
MiSSiON. THE MASTER
HAS NO VESTED
iNTERESTS, NO
DESiRES TO FULFiLL iN
LiFE. MASTERS COME
OUT OF SHEER
COMPASSiON FOR THE
WHOLE OF MANKiND,
TO DiSPEL THE
iGNORANCE OF
SEEKERS, TO SHOW
THEM THE LiGHT.

Portrait of Paramashivam

GOALS:

To help children understand that the Universe always existed, and is it's own creator, created and creation To understand how from the space of completion you can be a witness to your anger Help them understand that knowledge is like a light that removes the darkness of ignorance

ASSESSMENTS

1. Did the Universe ever not exist?

2. Does science agree with the Vedas on the existence of the Universe?

3. How does awareness help when our anger releases hormones into our body?

4. Who can guide us when everything seems confusing?

5. Why do Masters come to mankind?

6. What are the three energies that the Master lives?

Illustration of Krishna decoratively adorned
Art of the Day illustration

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

MAKE YOUR CERTIFICATE

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Paper
  1. Pens
  1. Colouring pens
  1. Examples or pictures of certificates like degrees, diplomas or other training certificates to show

PROCEDURE:

Show the example certificates and explain that these are presented to people who have gained knowledge on something. Then get the children to make themselves a certificate for all the learnings they have gained from the Bagavad Gita. Even this one lesson has added to their knowledge.

INFERENCE:

The light of knowledge dispels ignorance

Illustration of a young seated Paramashivam with the heading 'ACTIVITY OF THE DAY'

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

FIND ME!

INFERENCE:

Allow the supreme intelligence to guide us

Materials Needed:

  • Sticky tape as many pieces of paper as there are children, each with one word such as:
  • Universe
  • Agamas
  • Creator
  • Completion
  • Knowledge
  • Guru
  • Teachings

Procedure:

Attach a paper on each of the children's backs so it is readable. Don't show the word to the child who you are sticking it to. The children move around asking each other questions until they find out which word is on their back.

Portrait of Paramashiva

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam / Deity

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Hold Vaakyartha Sadhas on how each child has experienced anger, and how they can apply their learning from this lesson on the hormones in the body because of the anger, and the benefit of awareness

CONCLUSION:

Just like the rising sun removes the darkness of the night, the light of knowledge dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Illustration

BHAGAVAD GITA

BOOK V, VOLUME V

Tune In To Eternal Bliss

Illustration of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam decorated as Krishna

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Portrait

विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥ ५-१८ ॥

vidyā-vinaya-sampanne
brāhmaṇe gavi hastini śuni
caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ
samadarśinaḥ

One who is full of knowledge and
compassion sees equally the learned
brāhmaṇa, the cow, the elephant, the
dog and the dog-eater.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Existence has no favorites.

इहैव तैर्जितः सर्गो येषां साम्ये स्थितं मनः ।
निर्दोषं हि समं ब्रह्म तस्माद् ब्रह्मणि ते स्थिताः
॥ ५-१९॥

ihaiva tairjitaḥ sargo yeṣāṁ sāmye
sthitaṁ manaḥ nirdoṣaṁ hi samaṁ
brahma tasmād brahmaṇi te sthitāḥ

In this life, surely, those whose minds
are situated in equanimity have
conquered birth and death. They are
flawless like the Supreme and therefore,
are situated in the Supreme.

Illustration of Paramashiva

POWERFUL COGNITION

We move seamlessly from birth through living into death and again into birth.

Paramashiva / Kṛṣṇa

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम् ।
स्थिरबुद्धिरसंमूढो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मणि स्थितः ॥ ५-२० ॥

na prahṛṣyetpriyaṁ prāpya
nodvijet prāpya cāpriyam
sthirabuddhir asaṁmūḍho
brahmavid brahmaṇi sthitaḥ

One who does not rejoice at achieving something he likes nor gets agitated on getting something he does not like, who is of steady intelligence, who is not deluded, one who knows the Supreme, is situated in the Supreme.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Kṛṣṇa says that one who is of steady intelligence, one who does not get caught in the play of opposing emotions or patterns like pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, is established in the Supreme, is Supreme himself.

बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम् ।
स ब्रह्मयोगयुक्तात्मा सुखमक्षयमश्नुते
॥ ५-२१ ॥

bāhyasparśeṣvasaktātmā vindatyātmani
yatsukham sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā
sukhamakṣayamaśnute

One who is not attached to the outer world sense pleasures, who enjoys in the Self, in that happiness, he, having identified with his Self by engaging in the Supreme [brahma-yoga], enjoys unlimited happiness.

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

Kṛṣṇa advises us to turn inwards. Move away from your senses, move into your Source

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam deity adorned with yellow robes and flowers

INTRODUCTION

Kṛṣṇa succinctly explains the neutrality and equanimity of Existence. Existence has no favorites.

Kṛṣṇa says there is no difference between a human and an animal, and that there is no difference between those we consider to be saints and those we consider to be sinners. A learned scholar, the priest and the brāhmaṇa should be seen as equal to an animal or a person who eats dogs. Even more dramatically, He says that one in full knowledge sees the dog and the dog-eater as the same.

Existence sees everyone as equal. It does not discriminate. Everyone is a part of the same Existence. Similarly, Masters see the whole world as one with their own selves. That is why only they can show compassion to anyone and everyone.

Every Atom is Divine

When we see the eternal, blissful being as the core of each and every one of us, we will realize the inherent divine nature of each of us.

Classifications of lower species and higher species, good and bad are all made by society and by our minds, not by Existence. Only human beings think they are more intelligent than the rest of Nature!

When we just realize this very life is a divine gift to us, our attitude changes from taking life for granted to one of gratitude to Existence for everything! With every breath that you take every moment,

The life energy flows into you and keeps you alive. We take for granted the life energy that converts bread into blood. The mind continuously runs behind ‘more and more.’

DEATH, ONLY A PASSAGE

WE CELEBRATE BiRTH,
WE CONDOLE DEATH.
WHY? BOTH ARE
PASSAGES. NEiTHER iS A
BEGiNNiNG NOR AN END.
THE CYCLE OF LiFE iS
CONTiNUOUS. WE MOVE
SEAMLESSLY FROM
BiRTH THROUGH LiViNG
iNTO DEATH AND AGAiN
iNTO BiRTH. DEATH iS
FEARED BY MOST OF US
BECAUSE iT iS
CONSIDERED A
DiSCONTiNUITY. WHEN
WE REALiZE THAT DEATH
iS JUST A CONTiNUATiON
iN SOME OTHER FORM
WE WiLL NOT FEAR
DEATH.

Steady Your Intelligence, Go Beyond Opposites

Kṛṣṇa goes on to explain the characteristics of one who is Supreme. He says that one who is of steady intelligence, one who does not get caught in the play of opposing emotions or patterns like pleasure and pain, happiness and misery, is truly not deluded and is established in the truth, and in the Supreme.

This is actually a sūtra, a technique that Kṛṣṇa gives. If we put our attention neither on pleasure nor on pain, but between the two, we actually go beyond both and transcend the play of the mind. What do we normally do? If we are in pain, we try to run away from it. If we are in pleasure, we try to cling onto it. Understand that both pleasure and pain are of the mind. They are based on our saṃskāras, root thought patterns from our past. They are not of the being.

Illustration of Kṛṣṇa
Small portrait of Swamiji
Sri Krishna playing flute

For example, if we have a headache, don't try to resist it. Just witness it. As the tree is there, as the night is there, so also the headache is there. On the other hand, if we are very happy, don't try to cling onto it. Whether it is happiness or pain, just be a witness to it.

Normally we either suppress or express our desires. Suppression does not lead to elimination of that desire. It temporarily blocks access, but that desire will rise with renewed vigor again. Expression also does not mean completion. Again and again, the desire will rise even after repeated expression because we rarely experience anything with completion.

Paramashiva

This Is What Is Termed As Karma

Karma is nothing but unfulfilled desire that makes us repeat the same experience again and again, simply because we do not have the intelligence to enter into that experience with complete awareness. Once we experience the situation with awareness and complete with it, we will not be the doer, the deed or the doing. We will transcend all three. We will transcend our karma.

Tune In To Eternal Bliss

When we are situated in the core of our being, when we are one with the Self, we are not shaken by the emotions that happen on the periphery. It is like a rock that is standing in the ocean. The waves of the emotions are continuously lashing against the rock, but the rock still stands unperturbed, established in completion. The happiness arises from our very being, from our Self. It is unlimited eternal bliss because it cannot be stopped by any external agent, thus says Kṛṣṇa.

Illustration of Kṛṣṇa seated
Portrait of Paramashiva/Guru

GOALS:

For the children to understand
that Existence has no favorites.
All comparisons and hierarchies
are man made. Understand that
birth and death are passages.
Neither is a beginning nor an
end. To help children
understand that instead of
looking for fulfillment and
solutions outside of ourselves,
the real solution lies inside.

ASSESSMENTS

1. Who or what are the favourites of Existence?

2. Who created classifications like lower species and higher species, good and bad?

3. What does the mind continuously want?

4. Why do many people fear death?

5. What are the characteristics of one who is Supreme?

6. What should we do when we get a headache? What is karme?

7. When we see ourselves like a rock unshaken by waves, what are we stopping from shaking us?

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam in ornate headwear and traditional attire giving a mudra gesture
Art of the day illustration

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

EVERYTHING IS PART OF THE SAME EXiiSTENCE

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Paper
  1. Colouring Pens

PROCEDURE:

Get the children to draw pairs of beings that look or act very different to one another, for example, a giraffe (tall) with a mouse (short), an elephant (heavy) with a grasshopper (light), a snake (smooth) with a hedgehog or porcupine (prickly), a bird (can fly) with a fish (can swim)

Illustration of animals: giraffe, fish, elephant

INFERENCE:

Everyone is a part of the same Existence.

Activity of the Day

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

YOU CAN'T SHAKE ME!

Materials Needed:

Have a long list of prepared questions. About half should be easy ones like "what is your mother's name" or "what is the colour of grass". The other half should be difficult ones like "Tell me the first six numbers of the special number pi that is used to calculate the area of a circle".

Procedure:

Have the children sit in a circle and rapid-fire ask questions going round the circle. Start with easy questions and get the children comfortable with being able to answer. Then start adding in difficult questions. Avoid all negative responses to a child not being able to answer. Just keep going round the circle. Acknowledge a child saying they do not know an answer as being truthful.

INFERENCE:

When we are situated in the core of our being, we are not shaken by the emotions that happen

Illustration
Illustration of Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Get the children to hold Vaakyartha Sadhas on all the examples they have seen where something or someone has been classified higher or lower. For example, that a father talks about better cars. Or a teacher tells a student they are ‘slow’ in a negative voice. Let them discuss how this is different to Existence who sees everyone as equal.

CONCLUSION:

When we have the intelligence to enter into an experience with complete awareness, then we transcend our karma

Portrait of Paramashivam

BHAGAVAD GITA

BOOK V, VOLUME VI

The Path To Self-Realization

Illustration/Portrait

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam / Deity

ये हि संस्पर्शजा भोगा दुःखयोनय एव ते ।
आद्यन्तवन्तः कौन्तेय न तेषु रमते बुधः ॥ ५.२२ ॥

ye hi saṁsparśajā bhogā
duḥkhayonaya eva te
ādyantavantaḥ kaunteya na
teṣu ramate budhaḥ

The intelligent person surely does not
enjoy the sense pleasures, enjoyments
which are sources of misery and which
are subject to beginning and end.

POWERFUL COGNITION

"First, let us get our body and mind under our control."

शक्नोतीहैव यः सोढुं प्राक्शरीरविमोक्षणात् ।
कामक्रोधोद्भवं वेगं स युक्तः स सुखी नरः
॥ ५-२३ ॥

śaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ
prākśarīravimokṣaṇāt kāma-
krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ sa yuktaḥ sa
sukhī naraḥ

Before leaving this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and he is happy in this world.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Only a person who has gone beyond greed and fear can relax into his being. He will know what his place is in this planet Earth.

Illustration of a spiritual master seated on a throne
Portrait of Nithyananda Paramashivam

योऽन्तःसुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव यः ।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥ ५-२४ ॥

yo'ntaḥsukho'ntarārāmas
tathāntar-jyotir eva yaḥ sa yogī
brahman-irvāṇaṁ
brahmabhūto'dhigacchati

One who is happy from within, active within as well as illumined within, surely, is a Yogi and he is liberated in the Supreme [brahma-nirvāṇa], is Self-realized and attains the Supreme

POWERFUL COGNITION

When we are completely immersed in the present moment, we enjoy the path. When the path itself becomes the goal, we enjoy the goal also every moment.

लभन्ते ब्रह्म निर्वाणमृषयः क्षीणकल्मषाः ।
छिन्नद्वैधा यतात्मानः सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ ५-२५॥

labhante brahma-nirvāṇam ṛṣayaḥ
kṣīṇakalmaṣāḥ chinn-advaidhā
yatātmānaḥ sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ

Those, whose sins have been destroyed, who have dispelled the dualities arising from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, and who are working for the welfare of other beings, attain the eternal liberation in the Supreme [brahma-nirvāṇa].

Illustration

POWERFUL COGNITION

Only when we work out of bliss, we will do things to enrich others and ourselves

Portrait of Paramahamsa Nithyananda

कामक्रोधवियुक्तानां यतीनां यतचेतसाम् ।
अभितो ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं वर्तते विदितात्मनाम्
॥५-२६॥

kāmakrodhaviyuktānāṁ
yatīnāṁ yatacetasām abhito
brahmanirvāṇaṁ vartate
viditātmanām

They who are free from lust and anger, who have subdued the mind and senses, and who have known the Self, easily attain liberation [brahma-nirvāṇa].

POWERFUL COGNITION

When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us.

INTRODUCTION

If we don't fuel our being with fear and greed, suddenly, we will see a new clarity. We will start working out of intelligence, out of Divine Consciousness, out of Eternal Bliss. Just decide, 'Whatever I do out of greed will only result in more greed. I have been getting nowhere. Enough!' In the same way, if we are escaping from something out of fear, decide, 'Alright, how long can I escape? This fear will come and attack me in some other form. If I am afraid of this now, I will be afraid of something else later. So let me face it now.'

Again and again, Kṛṣṇa declares, 'Let you live in the space of completion. Let you work out of bliss.' And I tell you, if you are complete and work out of bliss, you will create bliss for yourself and for others; you will never know what tiredness is.

Portrait of a deity

Let me tell you honestly that I still can't understand the meaning of the word 'tiredness.' How can you have tiredness? Tiredness is the inner contradiction between the icchā śakti (power of desire) and kriya śakti (power of action), between your being and your action. Inside, there is a deep problem. Your greed and fear are attacking each other. If we are feeling tired, it means there is a big war going on inside you. The Mahābhārat war between fear and greed is happening within you.

Why do we feel tired? We feel tired when we are not integrated within ourselves. One half of our being that wants to express itself but we have suppressed it for various societal reasons. The other half of our being is what is expressing itself in the manner that we are forcing it to. When we become tired, the suppressed, unconscious half of us becomes more powerful than the conscious, pretentious half, and it starts dominating.

Portrait

JUST iNTEGRATE
YOURSELF. BE WiTH
COMPLETiON RATHER
THAN SUPPRESSiNG
YOURSELF, AND THERE
WiLL BE NO
UNCONSCiOUS HALF
TO FiGHT WiTH.
BECOME COMPLETE,
iNTEGRATED, AND
WHOLE. THEN YOU
CAN NEVER FEEL
TiRED, WHATEVER YOU
MAY DO.

First, let us get our body and mind under our control. As of now, it is under the control of fear or greed. Let that be controlled by us. Then, automatically, we can get anything under our control. If our body and mind are not under our control, whatever we wish to bring under our control will never come under our control.

Illustration of Kṛṣṇa

Just Be Happy From Within

Here is a beautiful sūtra, a beautiful technique from Kṛṣṇa to enter into the supreme consciousness: ‘Just be happy, restful and complete from within’, says Kṛṣṇa When you are in the space of completion in the present moment with full enthusiasm, you are in a state of bliss. Bliss is the state of joy that has no reason and which is not affected by the past or future.

Illustration of Krishna playing flute

Why To Feel Responsible?

This is what Kṛṣṇa says: When we are tuned fully inwards, we no longer have any attachment to what happens outside; we are one with the All, the Existence, and we have transcended all karma. We are then in brahma nirvāṇa—the ultimate liberation, one with Existence, and we are in nityānanda, eternal bliss. When we are tuned inwards, we live in the present; the past and future do not exist for us. When we are in the present, we are one with Existence. I call this All- one-ness.

Portrait

We are All-in-One. We are in the space of Advaita, non-duality. We encompass everything. In this state, we are at the height of spontaneity; we are at the peak of our possibility.

The more responsibility we take up, the more we expand.

With responsibility, we harness the power of feeling. When we feel the space of responsibility, we take it up without any doubts.

Responsibility can happen to you only after completion. If you take responsibility because you have to be a performer, or a leader, or to be productive, you will feel responsibility as a weight on you! Listen! Understand, only when you complete, you will know the right reason for taking responsibility.

Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

Why you need to feel responsibility, why you should take responsibility.

Whatever happens in and around you—you ARE the source! That is why you need to take responsibility for whatever is happening in and around you. You need to take responsibility because you are responsible, and not for any other reason. Whether you believe it or not, you ARE the source. When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us. Only when we work out of bliss, we will do things to enrich others and ourselves. Taking responsibility and enriching makes life happen to you! When we take up responsibility spontaneously, we do not act out of fear or greed. We will always be giving.

Portrait of Nithyananda Paramashivam

GOALS:

To understand to live in the
space of completion and work
out of bliss Help the children
understand where tiredness
comes from Help them
understand responsibility

ASSESSMENTS

  1. What decision can you make to get out of greed?
  1. What decision can you make to get out of fear?
  1. What is tiredness?
  1. Why do we need to get our body and mind under our control?
  1. What is the technique Kṛṣṇa gives us in this lesson?
  1. What happens to our attachment to the outside when we are tuned fully inwards?
  1. What does Swamiji call being one with Existence?
  1. What is the difference between responsibility taken for the right reason and responsibility taken for reasons that are not the right ones?
  1. Who is the source for whatever is happening in and around you?
Krishna illustration
Artwork of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

DRAW YOUR TIREDNESS

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Paper
  1. Colouring Pens

PROCEDURE:

Challenge the children to find a way to draw that their tiredness is their inner contradiction between icchā śakti (power of desire) and kriya śakti (power of action).

INFERENCE:

If we are feeling tired, it means the Mahābhārat war between fear and greed is happening within us.

Illustration of Paramashiva sitting on a throne

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

I TRUST YOU

Materials Needed:

Blindfolds for half the children A few obstacles to place around the room like a cushion, an empty cardboard box, balloon.

Procedure:

Place the obstacles around the room. Put the children into pairs. One of the pair wears a blindfold and the other child is responsible for taking the blindfolded child around the room safely, without bumping or tripping. After a little while, change the roles in the pair. Ask the children how it felt to be responsible for someone else, whether it was a heavy responsibility or a blissful one.

INFERENCE:

When we feel genuine love for others, we will take up responsibility because we want to share that blissful love with others around us.

Illustration
Portrait of young Nithyananda Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

Workshop Image

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Hold Vaakyartha Sadhas with the children on “Whether you believe it or not, you ARE the source.” How can they use this lesson at school? At home? With their friends?

CONCLUSION:

Take responsibility for the right reason, to work out of bliss

Cover art

- BHAGAVAD GITA -

BOOK V, VOLUME VII

Live All Your Possibilities

Authored by

THE SPH NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Nithyananda Paramashivam

5.27

स्पर्शान्कृत्वा बहिर्बाह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः ।
प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचारिणौ
॥ ५-२७ ॥
sparśān kṛtvā bahir bāhyāṁś
cakṣuś caivāntare bhruvoḥ
prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā
nāsābhyantara-cāriṇau

Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils and thus controlling the mind

POWERFUL COGNITION

Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful technique to move your energy from fear and greed to divine consciousness

यतेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिर्मुनिर्मोक्षपरायणः ।
विगतेच्छाभयक्रोधो यः सदा मुक्त एव सः
॥ ५-२८ ॥

yatendriya-mano-buddhir munir
mokṣaparāyaṇaḥ I vigatecchā-bhaya-
krodho yaḥ sadā mukta eva saḥ

Senses and intelligence, the transcendental who is aiming at liberation, becomes free from desire, fear and the by-product of desire and fear, anger all three. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated.

Nithyananda Paramashivam with feather

POWERFUL COGNITION

Your fear is rooted in the svādhiṣṭhāna cakra, the energy center situated two inches below the navel. Your greed is rooted in the mūlādhāra cakra, the energy center that is in the root of your spinal cord. Kṛṣṇa gives us the technique to elevate ourselves from these two cakras, to the eternal consciousness, the ājñā cakra at the brow center

Paramashiva representation

5.29

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति
॥ ५-२९ ॥

bhoktāraṁ yajñatapasāṁ sarva-
loka-maheśvaraṁ suhṛdaṁ
sarvabhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ
śāntimṛcchati

One who knowing Me as the purpose
of sacrifice and penance, as the lord of
all the worlds and the benefactor of all
the living beings, achieves peace.

POWERFUL COGNITION

Let you live all your possibilities.

Portrait of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam seated in meditation pose

INTRODUCTiON

Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful technique to move your energy from fear and greed to divine consciousness, eternal consciousness. Your fear is rooted in the svādhiṣṭhāna cakra, the energy center situated two inches below the navel. Your greed is rooted in the mūlādhāra cakra, the energy center that is in the root of your spinal cord.

Kṛṣṇa gives us the technique to elevate ourselves from these two cakras to the eternal consciousness, the ājñā cakra at the brow center, where the eternal consciousness resides. When we have elevated our self to ājñā, we go beyond our ego or mind.

Portrait of Kṛṣṇa

MEDITATION

1. Please sit straight and close your eyes. Let your head, neck and backbone be in a straight line. Intensely pray to that ultimate energy, Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, to give us the experience of this meditation.

2. First, visualize all your senses completely shut; your eyes are completely closed. Don't allow any visualization to happen inside your being. You should close the eyes too, because we continue to see things from behind our eyelids even though we shut our eyelids. Visualize that your eyeballs have become completely dark. You are seeing only darkness in front of you.

3. Visualize your ears are shut. Visualize your sense of touch is shut. Visualize your smelling capacity is shut. Visualize your face to be shut. Feel deeply that all the five senses have been shut down. 4. Inhale and exhale as slowly as possible. Slowly, let your nostrils blow the air. Let your consciousness reside between the two eyebrows. In a very relaxed way, be aware of the space between your two eyebrows. Don't concentrate; don't tense yourself. Just be very relaxed, have a deeply relaxed awareness.

5. Let your mūlādhāra cakra, located at the base of your spine, be relaxed. Let your svādhiṣṭhāna cakra, located just below the navel center, be relaxed. Let your whole consciousness come up to the ājñā cakra, which is between the eyebrows.

6. Concentrate on the space between the eyebrows.

Illustration of Paramashiva / Deity
Illustration

7. Visualize cool, soothing light in the ājñā cakra, in the space between the eyebrows. Relax in the ājñā cakra. Forget all other parts of your body. Forget about the body, mind and the world; remember only the ājñā cakra, the space between the two eyebrows.

8. Go deeply into the ājñā cakra, in the space between the two eyebrows. Visualize a beautiful, cooling, soothing light in the ājñā cakra. Let you experience beautiful, blissful light in the ājñā cakra. Don't tense yourself; let your awareness be in the ājñā cakra in a very relaxed way; let your consciousness rest in the space between the two eyebrows. 9. Relax in the same space of eternal consciousness. Let you be beyond the body and mind. May your intelligence be awakened. Let you work from your eternal consciousness. Let you have the pleasant awareness of the ājñā cakra. Let you all have the grace of the divine consciousness. Let you be established in the eternal consciousness. Let you all be in, with and radiate eternal bliss, nityānanda.

10. Om śānti, śānti, śānti...

• Om tat sat.

• Relax. Slowly, very slowly, you can open your eyes.

• Try to remain in this mood at least for the next ten days.

Illustration of divine figure with spear
Sri Krishna playing flute

Understand: Don't concentrate by force. Have a pleasant awareness. Let you learn the science of how to connect yourself with the Divine energy, how to be driven by the Divine Consciousness. Let you live all your possibilities. Let you function through the Eternal Consciousness.

Photograph of Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam seated on an ornate throne
Illustration of Paramashivam

GOALS:

Children to understand: Let your whole energy will be directed towards the Eternal Consciousness

ASSESSMENTS

  1. How do you move your energy from fear and greed to divine consciousness?
  1. Where is your mūlādhāra cakra located?
  1. Where is your svādiṣṭhāna cakra located?
  1. Where is your ājñā cakra located?
  1. What sort of light do you visualis e during the meditation?
  1. How do we concentrate during meditation?
Art of the Day

ART OF THE DAY

ART OF THE DAY:

DRAW YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  1. Pieces of shiny or colourful paper (Optional)
  1. Scraps of material, pieces of wool and yarn, bits of ribbon
  1. Scissors
  1. Glue
  1. A paper each with the outline of the ājñā cakra

PROCEDURE:

In the mood of the meditation, encourage the children to do a collage of their representation of and colours of the Divine Consciousness.

INFERENCE:

Let you learn how to be driven by the Divine Consciousness.

![Illustration of Paramashiva sitting on a throne with text

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY:

MEDITATION

Materials Needed:

A blindfold for each child, and mats or yoga cushions to sit on.

Procedure:

Hold the meditation of the lesson.

INFERENCE:

Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful technique to move your energy

Illustration of three seated figures meditating
Portrait of The Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism, Jagatguru Mahasannidhanam, His Divine Holiness Bhagavan Nithyananda Paramashivam

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY

Workshop Illustration

WORKSHOP OF THE DAY:

VAAKYARTHA SADHAS

Procedure: Hold Vaakyartha Sadhas on concentrating during the meditation, the experiences during the meditation, and how to remain in this mood at least for the next ten days

CONCLUSION:

We can move our energy from fear and greed to divine consciousness, eternal consciousness.

Photograph of HDH Nithyananda Paramashivam
Emblem with deity image and flag